New Delhi: Team India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav opened up on the prospects of him leading a team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 during the pre-match conference ahead of the 1st T20I between India and Bangladesh in Gwalior on Saturday. Suryakumar was left stumped by the reporter’s question about IPL captaincy and came up with an interesting response.
Suryakumar, who is one of the vital cogs in the Mumbai Indians (MI) batting line-up, has been part of the IPL since 2012 but has not gotten a chance to lead a team yet. He was the vice-captain of his former team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) under former captain Gautam Gambhir but never got a chance to lead the team.
At Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar spent most of his career under Rohit’s captaincy and played under current skipper Hardik Pandya in IPL 2024. However, ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, there have been speculations that KKR want Suryakumar as their captain and are willing to let go of their IPL 2024-winning captain Shreyas Iyer.
When asked about his prospects of becoming a captain in the IPL next season, Suryakumar called the question a ‘googly’. The Indian T20I skipper said he is happy leading the Indian team at the moment and has been enjoying the experience of captaining the national team. While he refused to confirm anything, Suryakumar also refused to completely brush aside his captaincy chances next season.
“Aapne googly daal diya aapne (laughs) (You put me in a spot with a wrong ‘un),” Suryakumar said during the press conference.
“Really enjoying this new role (as India captain). When I was playing under Rohit bhai’s captaincy in MI, I used to give my inputs whatever I felt at that time. For India also feeling good. I captained against Sri Lanka previously against Australia and South Africa also. I have learnt from other captains how to take the team forward.
Aage dekhte hain. Chalte rahta hain. Baaki aapko pata toh chal hee jayega (Let’s see how it goes. Rest you will know in due course of time),” he added.
Suryakumar Yadav’s India captaincy record
Suryakumar led India for the first time in a five-match T20I series against Australia last year due to an injury to Hardik Pandya, who was leading the Indian team in the shortest format at the time. Suryakumar pipped Hardik to be appointed as India’s full-time captain after the T20 World Cup 2024 earlier this year.
Suryakumar has so far led India in 10 T20Is and has a decent record with 7 wins and only two losses. India played a solitary tied match under his captaincy. The prolific right-hander has notched up 392 runs at an average of 39.20 in the 10 T20Is as captain for India.
Suryakumar Yadav was left stumped by a reporter’s question regarding IPL captaincy during the pre-match press conference ahead of the 1st T20I between India and Bangladesh. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
